Czechs lead Germany 3-1 in Fed Cup

STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova rallied to beat Germany's Sabine Lisicki and send defending champion Czech Republic into the semifinals of the Fed Cup after taking an insurmountable lead in the first round on Sunday.

Angelique Kerber later beat Lucie Hradecka 6-4, 6-4 to pull the score back to 3-1 and salvage some pride for the hosts with the 24-year-old German's first Fed Cup win.

Lisicki took the first set on a tie break, 7-6 (2), but No. 2-ranked Kvitova came from behind for the second time in two days to claim the second 6-4 before seeing out the decisive set 6-1.

The No. 14-ranked Lisicki had won their only previous encounter in 2009, but the 22-year-old seemed to allow the pressure get to her in the second set when Kvitova turned the screw.

"I had trouble with my return in the beginning, and it took a long time before I knew what to do — it was in the middle of the second set. Anyway, I'm happy that I got it," the 21-year-old Kvitova said.

Kvitova, who is on a 27-0 run indoors, had already prevailed over Julia Goerges after a long battle on Saturday, when Iveta Benesova also came from behind to beat Lisicki.

"I don't know what the key is to playing indoor, but I'm very comfortable playing indoor," Kvitova said.

The Czech Republic will next play Ukraine or Italy on April 21-22. Germany goes into a playoff to stay in the eight-nation World Group.

It was the Czechs' sixth win in seven meetings between the countries.

Germany's top player, 10th-ranked Andrea Petkovic, had been ruled out with a lower back injury.

The last tie of the best-of-five series — the doubles — was to take place later Sunday.